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Monday, January 2, 2012

Ginger & Onion Cuisine Restaurant - Market Village, Markham

My dad came back from Beijing to visit us for the holidays. We were quite excited to have a second guest (the first begin Cam's mom and only for a night) staying for a week. The night before he left, Cam and I treated my parents to dinner at Ginger & Onion Cuisine, which is located near the end of Market Village across from Pacific Mall in Markham.

Since mom has been really busy recently, I haven't gotten my Cantonese comfort food fix in. When I eat out with Cam, it's usually "western" food or other ethnicity's foods like Indian, Greek, Japanese, etc. So I picked out 5 dishes, all fail-safe "comfort foods" if you will.

I have two favourite hot pots - Spicy Eggplant with Ground Beef and Fish with Beancurd (usually some type of white fish). They're so savoury, hot, and simple. This one was Fish & Beancurd and absolutely delicious. The fish was lightly breaded and fileted, which was a pleasant surprise. Most places chunk the fish, bones and all. The only thing I disliked was the vegetables at the bottom of the hot pot - there was a faint smell of bleach. Ew!

Ah, Yeung Chow fried rice. Such a classic but a dish pretty much every single Chinese restaurant geared towards non-Chinese patrons fail miserably at. Soy sauce does not belong in this dish!! This had a nice amount of shrimp and large ones at that but it was a little light to the taste. I like mine saltier. And it still does not compare to Noodle Bowl's.

I was craving ginger & onion lobster like a mad woman. I love lobster any way it can be cooked but this is one dish I have not had in ages. The restaurant seems to have this on a standing special at $12 for a single lobster if you purchase $10+ in other foods. Buying a double lobster would be $27, though...which really doesn't make much sense but fortunately, one was enough to satisfy my craving. This dish was so SO good! It was cooked perfectly. The meat was tender, the amount of ginger and onions was just right, the saltiness was just right, and the lobster was cut in an edible way (sometimes you get odd pieces with too much shell to even try). Next time I get a craving, I'm dragging whoever is willing (or not) here.

Cam ordered this dish: sweet and sour pork. The dish was done typically, but well. There wasn't much meat but the batter was very crispy which I think Cam preferred. The sauce was a little bit more sour than sweet but there didn't seem to be any complaints around the table. I only had a couple pieces because it's not a dish I really care for but I have to say, this was done exactly how most people would like it.

The only dish missing from here is the Ginger & Onion Beef with Mushrooms. It was so good! As with all the other dishes we ordered, it came out exactly as I had imagined. I'm always disappointed when I order a common dish on a menu and end up with a dish that is a little different. Even if it's actually cooked better, it's just not the same. Like if you're craving Kraft Dinner and you get some fancy shmancy aged cheddar mac & cheese. Might be delicious but doesn't satisfy that particular craving!

This was my first time but I would definitely come back to this restaurant again. The prices are very average. We spent about $65 after tax & tip on 4 people and came home with enough left overs for my lunch next day. But best of all, all my favourites are on the menu and if these dishes were any indication, they're cooked exactly how I like them.